


Phil Coulson: Supernanny?

by f_romanoff_13



Series: Family [93]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avenger Children, Avengers Family, Babysitting, Domestic Avengers, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Gen, Or not, Supernanny, Supernanny Phil Coulson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-08 06:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1129263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f_romanoff_13/pseuds/f_romanoff_13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson finds himself looking after the Avengers 12 children...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> All my fictions are un betaed so I apologies in advance for any mistakes  
> The Avengers and related characters belong to Marvel, I can only make claims to the adorable OCs
> 
> Just a quick reminder:  
> \- Clint and Natasha's children are Evelyn, Elijah & Henry (identical twins), Alexis, Cecelia and Isaac & Clara (twins)  
> \- Tony and Pepper's children are Jacob, Oliver and Poppy  
> \- Thor and Jane's children are Emmett and Lucinda
> 
>  **In this fic Evelyn is 14, Elijah & Henry are 11, Jacob is 10, Oliver & Alexis are 6, Emmett & Cecelia are 5, Lucinda is 20 months, Poppy is 18 months and Isaac & Clara are 15 months old**   
> (Children listed from oldest to youngest)
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

It all started when Clint and Natasha didn't celebrate their anniversary; they were too busy, and the day came and went without anyone noticing.  
Phil, feeling guilty at having forgotten; offered to watch their kids so they could go away together for a few days. They politely declined, but when Tony and Phil joined forces and booked them a week’s vacation in Dubai, they relented and agreed to go.

Evie promised to help her uncle Phil watch her younger siblings, and Clint got Elijah and Henry to promise they’d be on their best behavior before Natasha would leave.

Then Pepper got called away for an urgent Stark Industries meeting, Jane was in England present her research, and The Avengers got called in for an urgent mission...

Phil assured them that he could manage, but Tony doubted even Phil Coulson could manage 12 children alone. Especially when the 12 children in question included the offspring of two master assassins, a God, and Tony Stark himself.

But with little other options, the Avengers left to go to Iran with the assurance from Fury it'd be a quick and easy mission...

 

“What are we gonna do today Uncle Phil?” Emmett asked, watching his younger sister cautiously as she ran round in circles with Isaac and Poppy.

“I don’t know, what do you guys want to do?”

“Oh the circus! The circus!” Cecelia shouted excited before anyone else could get a word in

“Cece, we went to the circus last week with Mom and Dad” Evie told her, releasing Clara from her high chair so she could join her brother and cousins in running in circles

“But I love the circus!” she insisted with a pout

“I do too!” Emmett agreed, earning a smile from his cousin, and best friend

“You sound just like your dad! We can go to the circus if you want” Phil told them, receiving an excited squeal from Cecelia

“She’s not even the baby anymore and she still gets her way” Elijah whispered to Henry

 

It took almost two hours to get the kids ready to go out. The elder children; Evie, Henry, Elijah and Jacob got themselves ready quickly, and the three boys waited for the others in front of the TV, while Evelyn retreated to the library. 

Alexis chose an outfit for Oliver and ordered him to get dressed; he obliged her with an adoring smile, too used to her bossy ways by now. When the two of them were dressed in matching colors, she took his hand and they joined their older brothers by the TV. Phil smiled watching them; _They're so going to end up getting married when they're older_ he thought with a chuckle

Cecelia, not quite as practical as her older sister decided she wanted to wear her nicest dress. Elijah managed to convince her it wasn’t perhaps the best choice for a fun fare, so she went and got changed. Five ‘inappropriate’ outfit choices later which were all strewn across her room and she was finally ready.

Emmett forwent getting ready himself in order to help Phil get his stubborn little sister ready. Lucinda was going through a phase where she out rightly refused to do anything she didn’t want to, often shouting “No no no no!” at the top of her voice while someone tried to make her. Right now she didn’t want to get changed out of her ‘Thor’ pyjamas in order to get dressed.  
Poppy, Isaac and Clara watched in bewilderment as Lucy shouted and ran away from Phil.

Isaac shook his head and Clara rolled her eyes before the two of them toddled off, followed swiftly by Poppy.

Once Lucy was finally dressed (in a Tshirt adorned with her father's face), and Emmett had gone to get himself ready too, it took almost another half an hour for Phil (with the help of the others) to find Isaac, Clara and Poppy; the twins had taken their cousin to show her their favorite hiding places and ended up locked outside on the balcony. 

Phil was beginning to regret his offer to watch all twelve children by now. 

As soon as he got Isaac dressed and turned his attention to Clara, Isaac had somehow gotten dirty. Changing Isaac’s clothes, he turned around to see Clara had gotten red marker pan on her tights... And on it went. Recruiting Evie to help him corral her youngest siblings, Phil quickly got Poppy dressed, she had definitely proved the easiest of the toddlers to get ready, surprising since she was Tony Stark's daughter. Phil was just thankful that she seemed to be taking after her mother.

Finally they were ready to leave...


	2. II

When they got to the circus and fun fare, Phil thought it was important to reiterate the rules again; no one was to leave the group without first informing him, they were to stay together as much as possible, they were to go nowhere with anyone they didn’t know... All the usual spiel he bored them with every time he ever took them out

Having taken just one double stroller Phil decided to put the more troublesome toddlers in it; strapping in a protesting Lucy and Isaac, he hoped Clara would be better behaved without the bad influence of her brother, and he knew Poppy would be no trouble.

Phil pushed the stroller and carried Poppy through the (thankfully not too busy) fun fare. Evie carried her youngest sister and the rest walked together in small groups. The three eldest boys were lost in a conversation about soccer, Alexis and Oliver walked hand in hand whispering together while Cecelia bounded about excitedly, looking at everything in awe; Emmett followed closely behind her, keeping his eye over his younger cousin.

It went smoothly to begin with; they watched the acrobats show in the big top and got cotton candy afterwards. 

Then they ran into a group of Evie’s school friends who asked her to join them, she declined, but Phil felt bad for keeping her from her friends. Ensuring she had her phone and knew where to meet them in a few hours, he insisted she go have fun with her friends.   
Henry noticed that a soccer game had broken out on one of the back fields between some of the kids and begged Coulson to let him join in. He finally agreed, having let his sister go off alone, and he also agreed to let Elijah and Jacob go watch the game. 

Now Phil was left with the youngest eight of the Avengers brood and felt a sense of worry as he looked over their expecting faces

“What now Uncle Phil?” Alexis asked, holding Clara’s hand as she wobbled tiredly on her unsteady feet. The young girl was yawning as she clutched her elder sister’s hand with her left hand, and Oliver’s in her right

Poppy had fallen asleep in his arms and Lucy was also asleep in the stroller. The only one of youngest few who was wide awake and alert was Isaac.   
Phil considered for a minute, before asking “Do you guys want to go on the helter skelter?”  
Four excited children nodded and turned in the right direction. Phil found a bench to sit on with while Oliver, Alexis, Cecelia and Emmett ran off to queue for the slide.  
Clara sighed as she fell asleep, her head resting on Phil’s shoulder as she wrapped her small arms round his neck

“Me too! Me too!” Isaac protested at having been left behind by his older siblings, pointing longingly at the helter skelter

“Not you little guy, it’s nap time for you”

“No nap” he pouted, looking incredibly like his father 

“Clara is asleep” Phil reasoned

“Clara’s a baby”

Phil smiled at his reasoning, trying not to laugh; “You’re the same age kiddo”

Isaac frowned at his logic and watched as Emmett went down the swirling slide

“Excuse me, mind if I sit here?” a lady asked Phil, snapping him from his thoughts

“Sure” he said, smiling up at her

“You certainly have your hands full” she said, watching as Poppy and Clara slept in his arms

He nodded in agreement, trying to move one of Clara’s strawberry blond curls from her face, however with his hands full he struggled and gave up  
The woman sat by him reached over and moved it for him, and he smiled his thanks

“Are they twins?” she asked, referring to the two sleeping girls in his arms

“No, cousins” Phil answered, she wasn’t the first to mistake them as siblings; their hair was the same unusual strawberry blond colour, they were close in age, and they did look slightly alike other than Poppy's hair being straight

“Although Clara here is a twin with...” Phil turned back to the stroller and saw Lucy alone in it

“Oh shit!” he cursed, standing up abruptly and inadvertently waking the two snoozing children in his arms. Poppy started crying while Clara looked around bewildered

“What? What’s wrong?” the woman asked, joining Phil on his feet

“There was another child in that stroller... Oh his Mom is going to _murder_ me!”

“Okay, calm down mister”

“Phil” he added, he hated being called ‘mister’

“Mandy” she told him smiling

“Uncle Phil! Uncle Phil can we go again?” Oliver shouted, running back up to him

“Please?" Alexis added for him, glaring at her cousin, "Please can we?” Emmett added arriving beside them with Cecelia 

“How many kids do you have with you?” Mandy asked, counting the ones stood in front of her

Alexis, Oliver, Cecelia and Emmett all turned to stare at her, as if just realising she was stood with their uncle

She smiled nervously at them while Phil answered her question; “Twleve”

“Twelve?!”

“They’re not mine. They’re my nieces and nephews”

“Right, and how many are missing?”

“Just the one”

“Who’s missing?” Oliver asked, looking round to see Isaac’s empty seat “Oh” he said, before anyone answered

“He can’t have gone far, he’s only one” Phil said, more to reassure himself than the kids

“You lost a one year old?!” Mandy asked, failing to hide the shock from her voice

When Phil gave her an exasperated look she apologized

“I can help you look?” she offered

“Please? I could _really_ use some help” he felt like he was begging, but he really did need a hand here. Phil was used to dealing with the high pressures of the job, facing life and death situations everyday... Superhero wrangling was one thing, but losing the son of two highly trained assassins filled Phil with a whole new kind of dread...


	3. III

Strapping Poppy into the recently vacated seat in the stroller Phil panicked; the straps were undone. One year olds couldn’t undo the safety straps in a stroller could they?  
So either Phil didn’t fasten them properly and this was his fault, or someone took him...  
He felt like his heart stopped for a moment, how could he be so stupid?! He was an agent of shield for goodness sake and he let himself become distracted by a pretty girl...

“Let’s go tell security first, then we’ll start looking” Mandy told him, sensing his ever rising panic and snapping him from his thoughts  
She took Emmett and Cecelia by their hands while Phil balanced Clara on his hip and pushed the stroller. Alexis and Oliver followed closely behind, looking round for Isaac as they went

 

“His name is Isaac Barton, he’s one year old, has green eyes, curly blond hair and is wearing an Iron Man t-shirt” Phil quickly rattled off to the security guards, despite Phil having absolutely no confidence in them at all. They nodded at him and went about their search. 

Evie suddenly arrived, followed by the boys following a brief phone call from Phil and they too went to try and find the missing child.  
Soon the whole circus and fun fare was crawling with shield agents, even Fury himself turned up to help them look. Natasha and Clint were still in Dubai; Fury had deemed the mission easy enough for four of the avengers to complete and allowed them to continue their vacation.   
Phil was secretly praying that no one had contacted them to tell them what was going on...

An hour later Maria Hill emerged holding a very shy, very sorry looking Isaac   
Clara noticed them approaching first and squealed, tapping Phil on his head to get his attention

“Oh thank God!”

“Don’t thank him, thank me” Maria deadpanned as she passed Isaac over

“Where on earth-?”

“He was asleep in one of the stalls” she informed him, smiling as she watched Phil fuss over the little boy. She called a stop for the search over her coms as Fury made his way over to join them. So apparently _certain_ one year olds _could_ undo the safety straps (typical for a child of Natasha Romanoff!)

“You know Romanoff is going to murder you right?” Fury told him, smiling as Cecelia and Emmett both insisted he pick them up

“She knows?!” Phil asked, causing Evelyn to laugh at just how scared he looked

“No, not _yet_ ”

Phil looked at his boss with wide eyes, begging him not to tell the assassins what happened, Fury’s response was merely a shrug and a tilt of the head in the direction of the kids; they were all rubbish at keeping secrets!

 

Fury and Maria helped Phil get the kids back home, Alexis managing to get Maria to give her a piggy back.

“Wait, where did Mandy go?” Phil asked, looking around

“She wasn’t security cleared for this Phil, sorry” Fury told him, strolling forward with a child in each arm

 

When they reached the tower Phil found himself feeling incredibly exhausted, and was thrilled to find Pepper had returned and ordered enough pizza for everyone

“So I hear you lost one of them today?” Pepper asked with a smile on her face. 

Poppy was asleep in her arms, while Jacob was playing on his psp beside her. Evie was lay by the fire reading while Elijah and Henry quietly fought over the tv controller. Clara and Isaac were both asleep on the chair, each leaning on the opposite arm and Lucy was desperately trying to stay awake, no matter how comfy she was on Maria’s lap. The other four were playing candyland at the table with Fury.

“It’s been a long day” was all Phil answered

“I can’t believe you thought you could handle all 12”

“It went pretty smoothly to start with...”

“Trust me Phil, I’ve been there and done that... But it is kind of funny that you lost one of the toddlers; they’re supposed to be the easy ones. They’re the ones you need to watch out for” she said, gesturing towards the table where Oliver was shouting “I win! I win!” while Emmett replied with “No you cheated!” the two boys were arguing and Fury was failing to stop them, the girls both rolled their eyes and left the table, joining their sister by the fire

“Well, you’re back now” Phil said hopefully, after today he was more than ready to get back to work facing super villains and aliens

“Don’t get any ideas” Pepper warned him, “Yes, I’ve taken a few days off work and I will help you out; but _you’re_ the one who agreed to look after the Bartons and the Odinsons”

Phil sighed as Maria laughed

“Feel free to lend a hand too Hill” Fury told her, quickly wiping the smile off her face; “You are, after all godmother to two of the children in question” he referred. She knew agreeing to be godmother to Cecelia and Lucinda would come back to get her...


	4. IV

Bedtime was the next obstacle faced

They all headed to the 70th floor, or the ‘spare floor’ as it had become known. Up here there was room for all 12 kids to sleep, aswell as 2 spare bed rooms, a lounge, kitchen and several bathrooms. It was used mainly when the Avengers were away and care of the 12 kids fell on Jane and Pepper; it was just easier to have them all on the same floor

Poppy went straight to sleep; as usual she was the easy one. Clara stood in her crib and cried for her parents while Isaac and Lucy ran circles around Phil

“No bed” Isaac insisted, and having slept most of the day away Phil wasn’t surprised he was tired

“Nonononononono” Lucy squealed, running past him and diving under Poppy’s crib

After initially deciding it would be easier to watch them if they put all four of them in the same room, it was now evident why Pepper had warned it was a bad idea

“You two, out!” Phil ordered to the two kids who’d avoided their cribs thus far when Poppy started to stir

The two of them left the room and disappeared down the hallway

“Come on Clara, you’re tired. It’s bed time”

“No sleep” she said sadly, rubbing her eyes

“Why not?”

“Mamma and Dada”

“They’ll be home soon, I promise”

“No, home now!” she insisted “Please?” she begged, her pale green eyes pleading with Phil, and he suddenly felt very guilty. Now he knew why everyone was so wrapped round her little finger

“I got this Phil” Pepper said from the doorway, and he had to admit; he was relieved. All he wanted was to give Clara exactly what she wanted, but he couldn’t

Phil left to deal with the others while Pepper quickly resettled her daughter. Poppy went back to sleep almost instantly so Pepper turned her attention to Clara who was still sobbing sadly in her crib. She scooped up the youngest child in the tower, wrapped her in her blanket and gently rocked her sleep on the rocking chair in the corner; it took a while, Pepper didn’t know the Russian lullaby Natasha sung to comfort her children, but eventually she was asleep

Placing the tiny child back in her crib, she looked over the two sleeping babies and found herself thankful that her child, in fact all three of her children were relatively well behaved

The same could not be said about the two toddlers causing havoc in the lounge

Isaac had run into the table, knocking over the three cups of juice which were on it all over the candyland game the others had been playing earlier. He was now sat on Evie’s knee in floods of tears with a rather nasty bruise growing on his head

Oliver and Alexis were trying to mop up the game, while Cecelia tried to distract her sobbing brother with her favourite stuffed animal; Ryba

Phil was crawling round on the floor with Emmett trying to get Lucy out from under the large table

“Lucinda Frigga Odinson; you come out right now”

“No!”

“Come on Lucy, please?” Emmett asked hopefully

“No!”

“Mom, I’m tired” Jacob told Pepper as she emerged from the bedroom

“Okay sweetie, you can go to bed if you want”

“Goodnight Mom” he told her, hugging her and turning to walk down the hall

She’d got 3 to bed, Phil was on 0

“Evie, you okay with Isaac?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine” she told her aunt, rocking her baby brother gently and muttering the same Russian lullaby Pepper was trying to remember earlier

Looking at the clock; it was way past Emmett, Cecelia, Oliver and Lexie’s bedtimes. She decided she’d tackle the youngest ones first, she had no hopes of getting Oliver and Alexis to bed if their younger sister and cousin were still up

“Okay, Emmett, Cece; bedtime”

Cecelia suddenly frowned at her stuffed dolphin clutched in Isaac’s little hands 

“What about Lucy?” Emmett asked, crawling out from under the table

“Phil can manage Lucy I’m sure, come on you two”

Pepper tucked the two of them in, kissing each of them goodnight and reading them a story before leaving the room

“Emmett, I can’t sleep without Ryba” Cecelia whispered when the room was dark and Pepper had left

“Why didn’t you tell Aunty Pepper?”

“Isaac was crying and he made him feel better”

“Well maybe he’s asleep now and you can have him back”

“No, it’s okay” she said quietly, but Emmett knew she was upset. He crawled out from his bed and dragged his pillow and comforter to the other side of the room, placing his pillow at the opposite end of the bed from Cecelia, he climbed in and fell asleep. Knowing her cousin was there made Cecelia feel better, but she still didn’t sleep until Elijah crept in an hour later, handing her Ryba silently before leaving again

‘5-0’ Pepper thought as she emerged from yet another bedroom 

Phil was still battling with Lucy, whos screaming and shouting had disturbed Isaac again, he'd been dosing on Evie’s lap but was now wide awake once again

“Aunt Pepper, can me and Lijah go watch a film in our room?” Pepper looked down to see Henry pulling a face at the racket, and even she had to admit it was giving her a headache

“Sure, but quietly okay? Jacob is asleep in there”

“Thanks Pepper, goodnight!”

“Night Pepper!”

‘7-0’

_Who was supposed to be babysitting again?_

“Eve, you want me to take Isaac?” 

“No I’m fine” she smiled up at her aunt, bouncing Isaac gently on her knee while speaking to him in Russian. It soothed him, more than Pepper could probably manage, but she still felt guilty for relying on a fourteen year old to look after a hurt and upset baby

“Okay, Oliver, Lexie; your turn”

She turned to locate the six year olds to find they weren’t there, damn; her winning streak had come to an end

“They went to watch a film with Elijah and Henry, Henry promised they’d move them to their beds when they fell asleep” Evie informed her

Well now Pepper felt doubly bad, these kids really didn’t need a babysitter; they looked after each other, mostly. So now the only problem left to deal with was Lucy...

_Daughter of the God of Thunder indeed_

Pepper thought back to when she, Natasha and Jane had overheard their better halves talking about the prospect of Jane having a girl, the three men had all said she’d be the easiest of all the girls in the tower, that Natasha and Pepper’s daughters took after their moms too much, and Jane daughter was sure to be much easier going  
Well look who was wrong... It would almost be funny if Lucinda wasn’t currently shouting so loudly Pepper could barely think

“Phil?”

“Oh please help me Pepper, I don’t know what to do” 

Lucy was wriggling and squirming, desperate to get free from Phil’s grasp. She was shouting at the top of her voice, causing Isaac to become unsettled again 

“Lucy, Lucy, tell me what you want?” Pepper said, placing a hand gently on each of the childs chubby cheeks

She settled quickly, stilling in Phil’s arms so he was no longer frightened of dropping her

“Want to play”

“No, it’s too late to play”

“No Peppep, play time!”

“Bedtime”

“No, no bedtime” she insisted, crying again

“Well that almost worked...” Phil commented dryly, trying to readjust his grip on her

Pepper saw Elijah carrying Oliver down the hallway to bed, the six year old sleeping soundly while his cousin carried him to bed, Henry followed, his sleeping sister in his arms. Pepper went to see if the boys needed any help getting the younger ones into bed without waking them, but they were experts by now

“Thanks guys” Pepper told them gratefully, kissing each of her nephews on the head as they passed. Elijah scooped up Ryba off the floor on his way, nipping into his other sister’s room to give her her stuffed toy. As he thought, she was still wide awake but fell asleep almost straight away when he gave it to her

“Pepper, I’m going to go to bed now” Evie informed her, passing over Isaac who was almost nodding off now

“Okay Eve, thanks sweetheart” Pepper glanced at the clock, it was nearing 11 o'clock and Isaac and Lucy were still up

She took a gamble and placed Isaac in his crib, praying he was tired enough to sleep now. Her gamble paid off when he went out like a light

“Phil, eleven of the kids are now asleep, I’m going to bed too because I have a headache. Goodnight”

Phil groaned as Lucy still fought to free herself from his grip, shouting and crying... It was going to be a long night


	5. V

Pepper woke to find Lucy wondering around the floor and Phil asleep on the couch; it seems he never made it to his bed (and Lucy never made it to her crib)

Isaac and Clara had both woken and (somehow) climbed out of their cribs, she guessed that’s what happens when two assassins had children together. Isaac had joined Lucy in her exploration of the spare floor while Clara had climbed into bed with Cecelia and gone back to sleep.

Evie was up and had put the coffee machine on for Pepper and made breakfast for Alexis and Oliver who were also up and watching cartoons on the TV. 

Emmett appeared a moment later, sleepily rubbing his eyes “Aunt Pepper?”

“What is it sweetheart?”

“When is Aunt Tasha and Uncle Clint going to be home?”

“Not for another few days, why?” she asked cautiously, wondering why he was concerned about his aunt and uncle and not his own parents

“Clara is upset, and she’s making Celia sad too” he informed her, which was when Pepper became aware of the sound of crying down the hallway

Pepper momentarily glanced at Phil who was supposed to be babysitting but was still fast asleep, and then at her mug of coffee she hadn’t managed to drink any of yet before turning back to Emmett and nodding, taking his hand and following him back to his room

She found Clara curled up in her older sisters lap, crying quietly; the poor girl was close to her parents and since both Clint and Natasha had almost died on a mission when she and Isaac were four months old they’d really cut down on their mission work, Clara was clearly having difficulty accepting they were both away for so long

Pepper sat beside the two girls, looking at Cecelia who was trying really hard not to cry herself; she seemed more upset that she couldn’t console her sister than anything else; and Cecelia was a difficult one to upset

And once again Pepper found herself wishing she knew that Russian lullaby...

“Clara, sweetie. Mommy and Daddy will be back in a few days”

“Promise?” she asked, holding up her tiny pinky finger as Evie used to when she was little

“I promise” Pepper smiled, linking her pinky finger with her nieces, who sat up and hugged Cecelia, then climbed into Pepper’s lap and hugged her before climbing to the floor and wondering off to find her brother

“How’d you do that?” Cecelia asked

“It’s all in the pinky promise” she winked, leading Cecelia and Emmett off to get some breakfast of their own

By this point Pepper could hear Poppy shouting from her crib; she hadn’t yet mastered climbing out of it like her cousins

After the nightmare of breakfast was over (which somehow involved spilt milk, two smashed glasses and a bowl, dry cereal strewn across the table, chairs and floor and jam splattered up the wall), Maria Hill (finally) arrived to lend a hand

She quickly took charge of the oldest (and easiest) four; she took Evie to her ballet class and dropped Jacob off at his friends house before taking Elijah and Henry to their sports camp, and then she went to work

Pepper quickly volunteered to take Oliver, Alexis, Emmett and Cecelia to the cinema and bowling for the afternoon, leaving Phil to take care of Lucinda, Poppy, Isaac and Clara. He internally cursed himself that he hadn’t been faster to bagsy the middle four; they weren’t always the best behaved as such, but at least you could reason with them.

By that afternoon, things hadn’t gone quite so smoothly for Pepper as she’d hoped; Cecelia had accidentally dropped the bowling ball on Emmett’s foot. She apologised profusely and Emmett quickly forgave her, but he was in a lot of pain and she wasn’t so quick to forgive herself. When they went over to the cinema Cecelia tried to punish herself by not allowing herself to see the film, she refused to go into the screening and sat alone on a bench outside, Emmett wouldn’t watch the film without her and it took Pepper almost 20 minutes of the film to convince them to come in and take their seats. Oliver took his mothers absence as an opportunity to quickly eat all of his, and then all of Lexie’s sweets when she decided she didn’t want them. By the time Pepper carried Emmett back into the cinema with Cecelia sulking behind her it was too late to stop him, and then he was sick everywhere. That’s when she decided enough was enough and she headed home, thinking perhaps the babies would have been easier.

Halfway home she received a phone call and had to pick Evie up from dance class early after another girl fell into her and she sprained her ankle. She thought she might as well save Maria a trip and picked the twins up too, only to find they were coated in mud from a game of soccer in the rain; she could only hope Phil was having better luck.

But when she got home, Phil and the four little terrors were nowhere to be found

Pepper carried Emmett into the tower, who was still complaining about his foot hurting and Cecelia followed; still upset she’d hurt her friend and she was close to tears, again. Alexis dragged Oliver over to the sofa and made him lie down, even if he insisted he was feeling better now, and Elijah and Henry traipsed mud everywhere on their way to the bathrooms. Evie took a seat in between Oliver and Emmett and the three of them looked terribly sorry for themselves.

Cecelia compensated for her part in what happened by getting anything the three of them wanted (including Evie’s book, putting The Lion King on for Emmett and getting Oliver several glasses of water)

Alexis tried to make Oliver feel better by teaching him Russian words, like she’d been attempting for weeks and he just wasn’t getting it. Pepper couldn’t help but laugh at the way he allowed her to continue anyway... It was almost like when Tony would go on about science to Pepper, and she’d nod and listen and smile even if it didn’t interest her in the slightest and more often than not she wouldn’t understand it herself; but it made him happy, so she let him; just as Oliver tried, and failed to learn Russian, because Alexis loved to teach him

Elijah emerged a moment later; clean and freshly showered, and got an ice pack from Bruce’s small medical bay for Evie to put on her ankle

“Aunt Pepper, where’s Uncle Phil?” Henry asked, following her round the tower and leaving traces of mud everywhere he went

“I’m not sure Henry, but the bathroom’s free now so why don’t you go get showered?” she hinted as her phone started to ring;

It was Mason’s mom. Mason was Jacob’s best friend; he also had Down ’s Syndrome and the two boys got on brilliantly. Jacob had told Mason’s mom how Pepper and Phil were looking after the 12 children alone and she’d rang to offer a hand by asking if Jacob could stay over at her house for a sleepover with Mason. Pepper heard both boys cheer at the end of the line when she said it was fine and hung up the phone smiling.

Looking at the clock, it was fast approaching dinner time and there was still no sign of Phil and his four charges for the day. She was wondering how long she should give them before she should start worrying when the elevator doors slid open...


	6. VI

Phil struggled through the elevator doors with two double strollers, and four sleeping babies.

Isaac and Clara were in one, snoozing side by side with their hands clasped in each others. Lucy and Poppy both slept soundly in the other; Lucy was missing a shoe and Poppy sucked her thumb. Phil collapsed on the other couch, sighing exhaustedly

“Hi Uncle Phil!” Henry shouted as he exited the bathroom. Phil looked worriedly at the four sleeping toddlers, but they didn’t stir

“You know we have to wake them to feed them right?” Pepper reminded him

“Oh, but-“

“Phil, how you ever got the nickname of ‘Supernanny’, I will never know”

“I got it because I was the only one who could handle the Avengers, but their kids are a whole other story!” he told her, gladly accepting the cup of coffee Elijah passed him

“What’d you do today Uncle Phil?” Alexis asked him, crawling up onto his knee. She leant back on his chest, her red curls dangerously close to falling into the hot drink

Phil sat up and looked around at the others properly; Evie had an ice pack on her ankle, Oliver was clutching a bowl Phil recognised as the one they usually used as a vomit bowl if one of the kids was sick, Cecelia was sat sulking on the floor and Emmett was frowning

“We went to the zoo” he answered, reminding himself that he owed Pepper big time. He was supposed to be looking after the majority of the kids, not her

“And you managed not to lose them?” Pepper asked, she’d clearly picked up on her husband’s sarcasm

“No actually; Lucy disappeared while we were looking at the penguins, then I couldn’t get Clara to leave the cheetahs, it took me over an hour to persuade her to leave! All Zac wanted to do was have an ice cream, and Poppy did _not_ like the bats”

“But no need to call out Shield?”

“No, not today. But I need to figure out another way to do this; pushing two strollers through a crowded area is a disaster”

“Been there, done that” Pepper answered tiredly

“So how was your day?” Phil asked and Pepper shook her head

“It was really good Uncle Phil! But we had to leave the bowling early and didn’t get to see all the film” Alexis answered happily from his lap; she’d been so quiet he’d assumed she’d fallen asleep

“Oh, why?” he asked, regretting it when Pepper shot him a look

“Emmett hurt his food, Oliver threw up everywhere and I had to collect Eve early”

“Emmett didn’t hurt his food, Cecelia hurt his foot” Oliver corrected his Mom innocently, but the comment caused Cecelia to start sniffling again 

The poor girl was punishing herself again way more than she deserved

Evie pulled her younger sister into her lap and Oliver quickly rushed over to whisper his apologies while Emmett tried to reassure her he was okay

Pepper and Phil watched as he stood to show her he was fine, but he stumbled over Lexie and Phil’s feet and fell over. Henry managed to grab him before he wacked his head on the table, but the commotion woke Lucy

Cecelia scrambled towards Emmett, who had a massive grin on his face “Got you” he joked, despite the fact the fall had been anything but planned; but it made her smile so he wrapped his arms around her, she returned the hug and her mood was instantly fixed

Pepper went to fix some differ for everyone while Phil supervised the kids, she could hear Lucinda demanding to be released from the stroller, and her shouts were waking Isaac and Clara (while Poppy slept through it all, oblivious)

Following dinner Elijah and Henry went to watch Jurassic Park with Phil while Evelyn went to do some homework, Oliver, Alexis, Emmett and Cecelia played on the wii while the four toddlers played on the floor. Pepper supervised while she answered some emails.

But the peacefulness didn’t last

Oliver was accusing Cecelia of letting Emmett win on the wii, and since Oliver and Cecelia were playing on a team he was upset that they’d lost 5-0 

Lucy had interrupted film night, and broken the blu ray player by pressing too many buttons

Isaac and Clara had gone from being thick as thieves to arguing like cat and dog; it was always one extreme or the other with those two, and they were currently fighting over the yellow crayon

Phil, determined to make up for today and redeem himself from last night, sent Pepper, Evie, Elijah, Henry and Poppy downstairs for some peace and quiet

“It comes to something when Elijah and Henry are termed as the ‘good ones’” Evie whispered to her aunt as they boarded the elevator. Pepper couldn’t help but smile, even if the eleven year olds had heard and were now scowling at their sister

“Right” Phil said sternly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room “Front and center. Now”


End file.
